States, colleges work to cut textbook costs
Stateline.org (Washington, DC)
College students across the country are experiencing sticker shock at their bookstores. At the University of Maryland, a new Understanding Business book sells for $139. At the University of North Carolina, Tar Heels could shell out $153.35 for Principles of Economics. And at the University of Wisconsin, Chemistry and Chemical Reactivity goes for $109.90 – used. ... University officials in Arizona, Nevada, North Carolina and Wisconsin also are working on initiatives to cut textbook prices. ... The 16 universities of the University of North Carolina system have until January to set up a system to buy back the books of large entry-level courses or set up a potentially costly book rental program.

Too much water or too little? Coping with the inevitable
Insurancenewsnet.com
We all take some things for granted: The shoreline will stay about where it is now. The weather will follow the rhythms of the seasons, delivering disasters every now and then, but in predictable ways. ... It is difficult to say how much capacity a hurricane protection system needs in order to account for the dynamic interactions of the Louisiana coast under a changing climate, says Richard Luettich Jr., director of the Institute of Marine Sciences at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

State & Local Coverage

Preservation, not congestion
The Charlotte Observer
...William Rohe, director of the UNC Chapel Hill Center for Urban and Regional Studies, said it's becoming increasingly common to see more formal and informal neighborhood groups in rapidly growing areas. "The pace of growth has been so great in North Carolina cities," he said, "that you're getting more of these organizations popping up." Residents want to preserve their quality of life and property values, Rohe said. And they fear that newer developments could bring more traffic, potential crime and air pollution.

Expansions to help UNC game days (Commentary)
The Chapel Hill Herald
In the past week, we have welcomed back nearly 28,000 students ready to begin a new academic year. They included another stellar first-year class. And the very first group of Carolina Covenant Scholars, who entered four years ago, have begun their senior year. ...James Moeser is chancellor of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Becoming a Writer
NPR "News & Notes"
News & Notes continues its series on the black literary imagination with a look at what it takes to become a writer. Farai Chideya talks with Randall Kenan (UNC professor of English), author of The Fire This Time; Kecia Lynn, a graduate of The University of Iowa's Writers Workshop; and Pulitzer Prize-winning author James Alan McPherson.

A stock sale now? Talecris to decide
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Talecris Biotherapeutics is testing Wall Street's appetite for risk. The drug maker in July filed plans to raise as much as a whopping $1 billion through an initial public offering of stock and use the money to knock down $1.13 billion in debt it has incurred since an ownership change two years ago. ...Talecris needs money to build facilities, invest in drug development and make sure it has enough blood plasma lined up to boost business and stay ahead of competitors -- pressing matters that won't be done in a timely manner unless the company reduces its debt. Those factors could elevate investors' nervousness, said Gregory Brown, an assistant professor of finance at UNC-Chapel Hill's Kenan-Flagler School of Business.

N.C. Central pauses to take stock of its rapid growth
The News & Observer
After six years of unrivaled enrollment growth, N.C. Central University's infrastructure is feeling the effects. On a campus where enrollment has increased 50 percent in the last seven years, there aren't enough beds for all those heads, or enough staff members in several departments that serve student needs, officials say. ...NCCU was one of seven UNC-system campus designated in 2000 as "focused growth" institutions. They were told to put greater emphasis on recruitment in order to increase enrollment. Seven years later, the university system is pausing as well to reflect on the enrollment boom and to re-think its growth process through an initiative dubbed "UNC Tomorrow."

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